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Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

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Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#221

Post by sambroner »

dan_quixote wrote: post #211
mauvehaus wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I beg to differ. Rock Auto is where it's at for auto parts. The website is ugly as hammered shit, but it's fast, shows you the options grouped by rough quality level (economy/you cheapskate, daily driver, performance, etc), shows you what part to select so it ships from the same warehouse as the parts already in your cart and saves you shipping, and returns are painless (disclaimer: I've only ever done returns for co…

My nomination is McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) - They have a huge catalog of parts/tools yet somehow it's so intuitive to browse. I was a mechanical engineer in a previous life and McMaster's website was my bible. Step one for any new prototype design was to browse this site. Best case scenario, you could cobble together your prototype from various COTS (commercial off the shelf) McMaster parts. And if that wasn't an…

I was always shocked by McMaster-Carr's delivery speed. I felt like the parts would arrive as quickly as I could have conceivably picked them up.

This was 10 years ago now, so sort of like Amazon Prime before it became ubiquitous, but for materials and tools. However McMaster was and remains much better organized and much better spec-ed.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#222

Post by MBlume »

vonmoltke wrote: post #151
alleyshack wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't specify why Instacart "became less usable", though if your experience is like mine I'd guess it's a combination of delivery windows being a full week out and the results being somewhat unreliable between replacements/out of stock. What's been working for my household is to make the Instacart order knowing it won't be delivered for at least a week, and use that time to fill out the order as needed. We're not…

> You don't specify why Instacart "became less usable", though if your experience is like mine I'd guess it's a combination of delivery windows being a full week out I can't get a delivery window at all in Instacart right now. I can't get pickup of delivery from any grocery store in northern New Jersey right now.

Check out immediately after midnight, this is what's worked for us.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#223

Post by selykg »

larrik wrote: post #177
selykg wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out Sweetwater next time. They are significantly better. Their site actually shows you each guitar/bass they have in stock and they have an entire gallery Of photos for each. If you order one they’ll send a zip or the whole collection of photos. If you call and talk to the sales rep for you (you’re assigned one) they can usually knock 5-15% off. They also make sure each guitar/bass is setup to factory spec befo…

Never really heard of them before. Looks like everything I bought is out of stock anyway, but it's good to know there are alternatives.

I imagine a lot of gear is tough to get unless it’s high end stuff right now. There has been a ton of people picking up instruments during the shelter in place orders.

Sweetwater is significantly better than GuitarCenter though. Better customer support, better site, better warranty, better everything.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#224

Post by jgust »

sambroner wrote: post #221
dan_quixote wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My nomination is McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) - They have a huge catalog of parts/tools yet somehow it's so intuitive to browse. I was a mechanical engineer in a previous life and McMaster's website was my bible. Step one for any new prototype design was to browse this site. Best case scenario, you could cobble together your prototype from various COTS (commercial off the shelf) McMaster parts. And if that wasn't an…

I was always shocked by McMaster-Carr's delivery speed. I felt like the parts would arrive as quickly as I could have conceivably picked them up. This was 10 years ago now, so sort of like Amazon Prime before it became ubiquitous, but for materials and tools. However McMaster was and remains much better organized and much better spec-ed.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Amazon is re-solving problems that traditional supply chain companies like McMaster-Carr solved 1-2 decades ago. It would be fascinating to read a case study comparing the two.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#225

Post by jbay808 »

dan_quixote wrote: post #211
mauvehaus wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I beg to differ. Rock Auto is where it's at for auto parts. The website is ugly as hammered shit, but it's fast, shows you the options grouped by rough quality level (economy/you cheapskate, daily driver, performance, etc), shows you what part to select so it ships from the same warehouse as the parts already in your cart and saves you shipping, and returns are painless (disclaimer: I've only ever done returns for co…

My nomination is McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com) - They have a huge catalog of parts/tools yet somehow it's so intuitive to browse. I was a mechanical engineer in a previous life and McMaster's website was my bible. Step one for any new prototype design was to browse this site. Best case scenario, you could cobble together your prototype from various COTS (commercial off the shelf) McMaster parts. And if that wasn't an…

I like McMaster-Carr, but I often hear them being held up as a positive UX example when, in my experience, their website is endlessly frustrating. They often force you into choosing arbitrary categories too early, break tabbed browsing expectations, and have a frustrating mix of metric and imperial measurements that can't be escaped. Their pricing is also generally at quite a premium.

For example, let's say I want a piece of hollow metal cylinder (any metal, to be determined later based on cost and availability), with an ID of around 12 mm and a wall thickness of at least 5 mm, at least 150 mm long. It ends up being a needlessly frustrating experience even for such a simple item.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#227

Post by richjdsmith »

ebg13 wrote: post #23

I tried ordering some things from Home Depot the other day, and they silently cancelled half of my order while still charging me the same amount for delivery from the store and while saying that some things can only be delivered from a warehouse and that some things can only be delivered from a specific store and that delivery from each store has a $45 minimum purchase before they'll even consider delivery despite th…

Same story happened to me last Friday. I put in an order on their website, met their minimum delivery order amount, and yet when I got the confirmation email an hour later, I found out 3/4 of my items were being shipped to my nearest (35min, 60km) home depot.

I called customer service and was told it was impossible to change the order so all get delivered, and that it was impossible to cancel the order. My only recourse is to go to their wharehouse, pick it up, then ship it back.

I don't love amazon, but they don't pull this crap on me.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#229

Post by xkjkls »

tanyatik wrote: post #226

Is it even ethical to shop on Amazon for non-essentials these days? There are big concerns amid worker safety. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/technology/coronavirus-am...

I'm not sure these concerns are unique to any other business with a warehouse, however.

Re: Amazon Isn’t the Only Shop Online

#230

Post by boomboomsubban »

bradlys wrote: post #216
solotronics wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean technically that is stealing but I guess its pretty low on the scale of "bad stuff".

Is it? They rung me up with it - it's up to them to decide what to charge me. I'd put as "bank error in my favor." I only noticed later when I was making sure they didn't overcharge me when looking at my bank account. (They had to charge and refund about 3x)

It's still stealing, the correct move would be to go back and pay the correct amount as you likely would have done if they overcharged you.

That said, I doubt you could legally be held responsible and I see no problems with what you did morally either. If you noticed at the time I'd find it morally questionable, but you can't fix every mistake.

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